Combination snow shovel and snow puller

ABSTRACT

A combination snow shovel and snow puller comprising a snow blade having means for receiving a snow shovel handle or a snow puller handle to thereby allow the snow blade to be used either as a snow shovel or as a snow puller for pulling snow off the roof of a building.

fies Mei Nordvik 51 Apr. 17, 1973 [5 COMBINATION SNOW SHOVEL AND 1,572,824 2/1926 Tatge ..37/53 SNOW FULLER 3,218,738 11/1965 Bowerman ..37/53 3,328,067 6/1967 Winkler... ..294/54 Inventor: Donald Nordvik, 7549 Noble 3,583,747 6/1971 Lambert .294/54 Avenue North, Brooklyn Park, Minn. 55443 Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant ExaminerJohnny D. Cherry [22] Flled' 1972 Att0rneyMarvin Jacobson et a1. [21] Appl. No.2 242,013

[57] ABSTRACT [52] CE v I I "294/54, 37/53 A combination snow shovel and snow puller compris- 51 Int. Cl. ..E0lh 5/02 mg 3 WOW blade having means for receiving a Snow Field of Search 294/49 5] 52 54 shovel handle or a snow puller handle to thereby allow the snow blade to be used either as a snow shovel or 294/55 37/16 53 as a snow puller for pulling snow off the roof of a building. [56] References (Iited 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS Brownstein 1.37/53 COMBINATION SNOW SIIOVIEL AND SNOW PULLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to snow removal tools suitable for use in winter climates and, more specifically, to a snow removal tool which can be utilized as either a snow shovel or as a snow puller for l removing snow from the roof of a building.

2. Description of the Prior Art A number of prior art snow shovels and snow pullers are commercially available. Typically, snow pullers comprise a long pole on which a snow blade is attached thereto for dragging or pulling snow off the roof of a building. Similarly, snow shovels are well known and generally comprise a curved or planar snow blade which has a handle mounted thereto. Both snow shovels and snow pullers are well known in the art, however, to date, there have not been any snow implements that can be satisfactorily used as either a snow shovel or a snow puller.

The popularity of snow pullers is a recent development which was partly attributable to recent heavy snow falls and the desire of people not to climb on their building roofs to shovel off the snow. Thus, snow pullers are generally used only when weather conditions produce large snow buildup on building roofs, which means the snow puller may be used once or twice during a winter season. In fact, in some winters, the snow puller may not be used at all. Because the use for a snow puller is infrequent and shoveling snow off a roof can be hazardous, a person will generally procrastinate and hope for warm weather rather than to run the risk of climbing on the roof and shoveling off the snow. Consequently, oftentimes snow piles up on the roof and before warm weather arrives, the snow is so deep that it acts as an insulation blanket allowing the snow next to the roof to melt from the internal heat of the house. This forms water which can leak through the roof. In order to prevent the snow from piling up and then melting, the homeowner should have a snow puller to remove the snow. However, as a practical matter, the average homeowner usually does not have a snow puller but instead, has a snow shovel to remove snow from sidewalks and driveways. Consequently, the present invention solves the homeowners problem of having to purchase two snow implements by providing a snow blade that can be converted into either a snow shovel or a snow puller.

Normally, in the forming of tools with two functions, there is generally a loss of efficiency in one function of the tool as a result of modifications to produce a tool that is usable for two different tasks. The present invention, in contrast, through an improved design has eliminated any loss of efficiency and provides an improved shovel and improved snow puller as well as a compact, storable snow shovel and snow puller.

As a further convenience modification to the inven tion, the handle is provided with sections that can be snapped in place to produce the desired handle length on the snow shovel or on the snow puller.

As a still further improvement, the snow puller blade has two edges which are operable for engaging and pulling snow off the roof. Each of the edges and blade adjoining the edge form a different angle with the roof.

Thus, the snow puller has two snow pulling positions in order to allow one to pull loose snow or packed snow from the roof by using the proper edge of the snow blade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention comprises a snow tool suitable for removing snow from the roof of a building 0 while the user stands on the ground and which is also BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a side elevation view of my snow implement when assembled as a snow shovel;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of my snow implement when assembled as a snow puller;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of my snow implement as assembled as a snow shovel; and

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of an assembled snow shovel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows my snow implement l0 assembled as a snow shovel. Implement 10 comprises an arcuate or curved snow blade 11 having a first edge Ila and a second edge 11b. Located on snow blade 11 is a housing 12 which is fastened off center of the snow blade 11 by suitable means such as welding or riveting. Fastened to housing 12 is a sectioned handle 13 which comprises a base member 14 having a threaded opening therein (not shown) for receiving a threaded bolt 15. Bolt 15 passes through a washer 17 and through an opening (not shown) in housing 12 to form threaded engagement with a threaded recess in base member 14. While a threaded fastener is shown for fastening housing 12 to handle 13, it is apparent that other fastening devices such as snap locks and the like are also within the scope of this invention.

Typically, handle 13 has a male section that forms mating engagement with a female section. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, a female section 16 includes a handhold which can accommodate the snow shovelers hand. In order to prevent the sections of handle 13 from slipping or turning, there is provided a conventional snap lock 20 comprising a pin that is resiliently mounted in the male section so that when assembled, the pin projects through an opening in the female section. This pin connector thus prevents twisting of the male section with respect to the female sections of the handle as well as holding the sections of the handle together. However, it is to be understood that other suitable fastening members such as pins or bolts or threaded sections are also within the scope of this invention. To disassemble the sections, the operator pushes the resiliently mounted pin through the female opening thus allowing the sections to separate.

By providing a sectionable handle of various length female sections and male sections, a short handle can be assembled for use when the snow blade is used as a snow shovel or a long handle can be assembled when the snow blade is used as a snow puller. That is, with a long handle the operator can stand on the ground and pull snow off the roof without ever having to climb upon the roof.

When I use my implement as a snow shovel, handle 13 and base member 14 are mounted in housing 12 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4. This produces a handle which is in substantial parallel alignment with the section of the snow blade adjacent edge 11a. Note, housing 12 is mounted off center of the snow blade 11 which places the handle of the snow shovel directly behind the geometric center of snow blade 11 thus providing a more stable snow shovel.

Referring to FIG. 2, my snow implement is shown assembled as a snow puller. In this embodiment, base member 14 is located against snow blade 11 and threaded bolt 15 passes through washer 17 and an opening (not shown) in blade 11 into threaded engagement with base member 14. This firmly holds snow blade to base member 14 and handle 13. When assembled in this manner, edge 11a and the section of snow blade immediately adjacent to it make an angle of approximately 45 with the handle as well as providing an edge 11a which projects a distance L from handle 13. Similarly, edge 11b and the section of the snow blade immediately adjacent thereto make an angle of about 30 with the handle as well as providing edge 11b that projects a distance L; from handle 13. Thus, the relative angles of the snow blade edges as well as the distance L, and L of the snow blade edges from the handle are different. These differences in angles and distances allow the snow puller to be used to remove either deep snow or shallow snow from the roof. That is, to remove deep, loose snow, the operator places edge 11a in contact with the roof. Similarly, to remove packed snow from the roof, the operator places edge 11b in contact with the roof. Then, by pulling the operator can push the snow in front of the blade until it falls off the roof of the building.

lclaim:

1. A convertible snow implement which is assembled as a snow puller for removal of snow from a building roof and as a snow shovel for shoveling snow, comprismg:

a snow blade with a geometric center located along a geometric axis, said snow blade having a concave side, a convex side, a first working edge and a second working edge, said snow blade and said first working edge coacting to thereby provide a snow shovel blade;

handle attaching means located on said snow blade, and handle attaching means having a first handle attaching section and a second handle attaching section, said first handle attaching section positioned along said geometric center and spaced from the geometric center of said snow blade, said first handle section operable to attach a handle thereto at an angle approximately parallel to at least a portion of said snow blade to thereby pro vide a snow shovel, said second handle attaching section positioned between the first working edge and the second working edge of said snow blade, said second handle attaching means located on the concave side of said snow blade, said second handle attachlng means operable to attach a handle thereto to thereby provide a snow puller for pulling snow offa building roof.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said first working edge and said second working edge are unequal distance from said second handle attaching section.

3. The invention of claim 2 including a handle for attachment to said handle attaching means.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said handle includes a mating section operable to receive additional mating sections to thereby provide an elongated mated handle for attaching to the second handle attaching means.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the angle between the snow blade adjacent the first working edge and said handle and the angle between the snowblade adjacent the second working edge are unequal.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein said first working edge and said second working edge are straight.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said first handle attaching section is located on the convex side of said snow blade.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said handle includes a base member and a detachable fastening means for securing said snow blade to said base member. 

1. A convertible snow implement which is assembled as a snow puller for removal of snow from a building roof and as a snow shovel for shoveling snow, comprising: a snow blade with a geometric center located along a geometric axis, said snow blade having a concave side, a convex side, a first working edge and a second working edge, said snow blade and said first working edge coacting to thereby provide a snow shovel blade; handle attaching means located on said snow blade, and handle attaching means having a first handle attaching section and a second handle attaching section, said first handle attaching section positioned along said geometric center and spaced from the geometric center of said snow blade, said first handle section operable to attach a handle thereto at an angle approximately parallel to at least a portion of said snow blade to thereby provide a snow shovel, said second handle attaching section positioned between the first working edge and the second working edge of said snow blade, said second handle attaching means located on the concave side of said snow blade, said second handle attaching means operable to attach a handle thereto to thereby provide a snow puller for pulling snow off a building roof.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the said first working edge and said second working edge are unequal distance from said second handle attaching section.
 3. The invention of claim 2 including a handle for attachment to said handle attaching means.
 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said handle includes a mating section operable to receive additional mating sections to thereby provide an elongated mated handle for attaching to the second handle attaching means.
 5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the angle between the snow blade adjacent the first working edge and said handle and the angle between the snowblade adjacent the second working edge are unequal.
 6. The invention of claim 5 wherein said first working edge and said second working edge are straight.
 7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said first handle attaching section is located on the convex side of said snow blade.
 8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said handle includes a base member and a detachable fastening means for securing said snow blade to said base member. 